AT LAST I KNOW WHERE I HAVE BEEN GOING WRONG!

All these years and I didn't realise it... amazing... it's just clicked, you see I live in a Parallel world!

In my world there is pollution caused by, for example, aircraft, but in the other world all you need to do is buy Carbon Credits and that high level pollution is immediately removed from the sky. It's incredible... However you pollute Carbon Credits make it immediately better, why doesn’t it happen in my world?

In my world there has just been a financial collapse in the banking industry and there is a recession. There is a huge amount of debt, an increase in the jobless figures and a lack of trust and confidence in governments. In this other world governments are giving the banks money and encouraging the banks to lend to people so they can take out debt and go out and buy things, why is it different in my world?

In my world resources are scarce, peak oil has been reached and pollution is huge problem yet in this other World while they have these problems they don’t have to plan for them or worry about them. Where have I gone wrong?

In my world feeding the hungry in Africa and other countries is a pressing need but in this other world what really matters is the holiday destination and the latest sports results. The fact that food is used to make fuel is also OK so why is it different in my world?

I could go on but I need to find this other World ASAP.

A Dream Comes True

On December 1st 1955 Rosa Parks sat and would not budge so Martin Luther King could dream, arise and march. On August 28th 1963 Martin Luther King marched so Barack Obama could stand and run in the 2008 Presidential race. America judged Barak Obama to have won the that Race and on 20th January 2009 he was sworn in as the United States 44th president.

The world can change for the better, but it does need people of courage to make that change.

Have you ever prayed for money? Lydia George did. Her prayers were answered and just look what happened...

Before she went to Oxford University, Lydia had a Gap Year and worked six months for CCD (Christian Care Foundation for Children with Disabilities) in Thailand. CCD provides care and support to abandoned children with disabilities, regardless of gender, nationality, creed or religion.

When Lydia left CCD they were very short of money, and were struggling to finance the finishing of the new Rainbow Rehabilitation centre. Wasan, the Thai director, had even spent all his own life savings in an attempt to finish the project - such was his level of commitment, Lydia though had nothing to give them.

Lydia was back in the UK and working part time as a waitress in an Oxford bar and restaurant, when the producer of 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' approached her to appear on a 'freshers and professors' special.

In her own words... “I was auditioned on camera, and thought nothing more of it, until I had a phone call a few weeks later saying I had been successful, and that filming was in a week! The wonderful thing about it all was that I had been praying about a way of raising some money for CCD before this opportunity came up. When the opening came along I knew, therefore, that it was a gift from God, and that if I was to win any money, I should give it all away.

To my surprise, I ended up on the hot seat after winning 'Fastest finger first'. I won £32,000 along with the professor, which worked out as £16,000 each. I said on air that I would give it away, and that’s what I did. CCD was able to complete the building project, and the first ever purpose-built rehabilitation centre for disabled children was officially opened.

As a result of this, the Daily Telegraph did an article on my story, and then many more of the press became interested. Sky News approached me to make a documentary called 'Giving it away', which was filmed during my Christmas Holidays from university. Through these and various other media sources, about £30,000 was donated to CCD. I was absolutely blown away by the generosity of the public and the number of people who were genuinely moved when they saw the conditions of the orphanage on television.

My expectations were blown once again when Starfish Trust, a Bristol-based charity, contacted me to say they would like to donate to CCD, which enabled them to buy some land adjacent to the rainbow centre. Their donation was in total about £100,000, the largest donation to CCD ever!”

Following this Lydia was nominated for and won a 'Pride of Britain' Special award. Again, something amazing also came out of this.

In Thailand Lydia grew very close to a little girl called Ornanong, which means ‘Scrawny’. Scrawny was a malnourished and unstimulated 3 years old weighing just under a stone. Her parents, who were unable to care for her, were a seventy year-old man and a 30 year-old woman, who was an alcoholic. Lydia spent a lot of time with Scrawny at the weekends when in Thailand, taking her swimming, shopping, to the playground – all those things that normal children love to do so much, but which we all take for granted.

At the Pride of Britain awards Lydia had been talking to an American couple called Bill and Cindy Sasser the previous night, and they mentioned that they had it on their hearts to adopt a little girl. On the night of the awards the Daily Mirror flew Scrawny to London to surprise Lydia on stage. Scrawny meet the Sassers, who were very touched by her, and decided to try to adopt her. As a result Scrawny is now settled in with her new family in their home in Mobile, Alabama.

Lydia has continued to work for abandoned children in Thailand and has now has now raised hundreds of thousands of pounds, an amazing return on her heart-felt teenage prayers. If you would like to know more about CCD, and the ongoing story, please see HERE.

Angola's Miss Landmine 2008.

On the right is Miss landmine 2008 Maria Restino Manuel a 26 year old who had her leg blown off in 1998 when she ran across a mined field to escape a gang of soldiers who had threatened to rape her. When she said that she wanted to promote world peace she really meant it.

On the left is Mum-of-four Filomena Da Costa who has married a fellow amputee.

Anita Pedro in the centre has three year old twins.

Civil war broke out in Angola after independence from Portugal in 1975. More than 500,000 were killed in 27 years of fighting and all sides used landmines. 43,000 have been removed so far but it will take 10 or more years to remove the remaining millions. Every year, 400 Angolan locals step on mines.

Approximately every thirty minutes someone, somewhere in the world is injured or killed by an encounter with them. In southeast Asia, an accident happens every day, shattering lives, hopes and dreams.

So, where did these vile weapons come from?

Apart from the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, the most mine-affected countries in the world received all of their mines from sources outside of their borders.

Major producers of anti-personnel landmines in the last 25 years include Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, the former Soviet Union, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam and the former Yugoslavia. The most commonly found mines around the world were from China, Italy and the former Soviet Union.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) says 13 countries have not banned anti-personnel landmine production: Burma, China, Cuba, India, Iran, Nepal, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, United States and Vietnam. Some of these countries have not actually made AP mines in recent years, but refuse to ban production officially.

The tragedy is that those that profited by the manufacture of these items are not the ones that are having to pay for them, and I don't mean in financial terms.

If you would like to know more and add your support to those who face danger daily in order to rid God's World from the pollution of these evil items then see HERE

The one who throws the stone forgets, the one who is hit remembers forever... An Angolan Proverb.